Slopestyle sports could be dropped by 2018 Winter Olympics

According to the Canadian Press on Saturday, slopestyle skiing and slopestyle snowboardingcould be dropped from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. The reason is because of the high number of injuries that resulted from the Olympic competition in those sports.

Dr. Lars Engebretsen, who is the International Olympic Committee’s head of scientific activities of the medical and scientific department, discovered in his research that there were more injuries in the slopestyle events at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi than any other discipline and stated there is the possibility that men’s and women’s slopestyle skiing and slopestyle snowboarding could be dropped from future Olympic Winter Games because of safety concerns.

American snowboarding star Shaun White dropped out of the slopestyle snowboarding competition at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi because he considered the course was too dangerous. Dr. Engebretsen’s conclusions seem to back up White’s position.

If slopestyle skiing and slopestyle snowboarding are dropped, it would be a blow to Canadian high performance sport. At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Dara Howell of Hutsville, Ont., won the gold medal in women’s slopestyle skiing, Kim Lamarre of Quebec City, Que., won the bronze medal in women’s slopestyle skiing, and Mark McMorris of Regina, Sask., won the bronze medal in men’s slopestyle snowboarding. It should be pointed out that McMorris was competing with a broken arm that he suffered a month earlier at the Winter X Games.

However before slopestyle snowboarding or slopestyle skiing will be dropped from the Olympic stage, it appears experts will evaluate why there were so many injuries according to theAssociated Press. One of the most serious injuries came from three-time X Games slopestyle snowboarding champion Torstein Horgmo of Norway, who broke his collarbone while practicing in Sochi for the Olympic competition.